


My Skin

by Niori



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: ALL THE TRIGGER WARNINGS!, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BAMF Tony Stark, Dark Thor, Hopeful Ending, I swear I don't actually hate Asgard, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, dark asgard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 21:20:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14601948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niori/pseuds/Niori
Summary: Loki told him everything. With mounting horror, Tony learned about Asgard's idea of acceptable punishment, and how it wasn't even punishment at all, but an honour. He learned that Thor's version of brotherly love was far removed from everyone else's. He learned that Loki had a son that looked like Thor but had his eyes, and that he didn't even know his child's name. Tony wanted to be sick. He wanted to march to Asgard and demand what wrong with them. He wanted to kill something. This...this was wrong. So very wrong.In which Tony finds a lost Norse God, finds out what Asgard thinks is the right thing to do, and is not going to let them just get away with it.(All the trigger warnings)





	My Skin

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Look at me! Finally writing for my OTP. I started this just after Avengers 1, so everything, including the last ten minutes, go AU. Loki gets away from them and continues to cause chaos for a few years. Other superhero/supervillain stuff goes on, though not all the next movies happen. A mix of comic ideas thrown in there for good measure. 
> 
> Also, I'm putting this up front in case you missed the tags: ALL THE TRIGGERS!
> 
> Okay, so the background to this story. There's basically a novel here lol. Once upon a time, there was a prompt/fill on Norsekink that was basically Loki gets dragged back to Asgard and his punishment is become Thor's concubine and can only get his freedom if he gives Thor an heir. Loki however literally can't because he's not sexually mature. Insert long period of torture, until he hits frost giant puberty, gets pregnant, and has said heir (Okay, writing that out really makes me realize how much we love hurting Loki in this fandom). Someone filled it (and I've never been able to find it again, otherwise I'd link it) and it was a beautiful, painful and absolutely haunting fill. Haunting because Loki gave into Stockholm Syndrome and stayed post- punishment. 
> 
> That led me to making a prompt that was based after the first, where Loki peaces out and starts his life on Earth and lives happily ever after. Coneycat wrote an amazing fill for that called Under Calico Skies (I have a link this time! https://archiveofourown.org/works/10754202 ). That led to yet ANOTHER prompt (https://norsekink.livejournal.com/6119.html?thread=10703079#t10703079), where Loki is on Earth having his recovery, and then Avengers, etc, find out what happened to him. 
> 
> So here we are- me filling a prompt that was a shoot off of a prompt I made based on another prompt. Damn I love fandoms that build off each other. I would also like to thank Coneycat, because a lot of the inspiration for this came from both them and the original writer I have never found again. 
> 
> Again, Trigger warnings everywhere.

Tony Stark was not exactly known for thinking before he acted, so when he marched into SHIELD headquarters, sans armour, and punched their resident God of Thunder in the face, it was obvious that there was very little forethought involved. When he pulled his fist back to repeat the action, potentially broken hand be damned, rational thought was the very last thing he was paying attention to. Natasha and her super ninja skills stopped his arm before it could make contact. He would have tried to get out of her hold and go in for more, but Tony knew that Natasha would not be letting him get another shot at Thor. If he couldn’t hit, then he sure as hell was going to vent his rage another way.

“You God damn fucking son of a bitch!”

The entire room went from looking startled to looking downright shocked. Tony cursed, and he cursed often (second only to Clint, and maybe Natasha, but he didn’t speak Russian so he couldn’t be sure), but never with such venom and never at one of them. Thor was wearing his kicked puppy look, which Tony used to think was quite endearing. Now it made Tony want to gouge Thor’s eyes out.

“My friend-“ Thor began, and it made Tony see red.

He moved to lunge, but Natasha (who was looking as stunned as he had never seen her) held him back.

A stunned and confused Steve yelled, “Tony!” at the same time that an irritated Fury barked, “Stark!” Clint’s “What the fuck?” and Coulson’s long suffering sigh all went unnoticed. Tony didn’t particularly care what they thought.

(Loki was going to be upset when he found out Tony did this in front of the Avengers and the head of SHIELD. Tony would worry about how to explain it to him after he’s ripped into Thor)

“Friend? Fuck no! We. Are. Not. Friends,” a harsh bark of laughter forced its way out of Tony’s throat and there was anything but humour in it, “Fuck. From the way you treat brothers, I’d hate to see how you treat friends!”

Thor looked confused (another expression Tony used to find amusing but now wanted to punish with violence). It took a moment, but Thor caught onto that all important word. His eyes lit up and a kid-at-Disneyland smile began to curl at the corner of his lips.“You know where my brother is?” There was both joy and disbelief, the fact that Tony was pissed off completely leaving Thor’s mind the minute Loki was mentioned.

_(Of course he did. He'd known for nearly a year, since he had visited his Malibu place and ducked into that used bookstore to avoid some particularly annoying paparazzi who had latched onto the rumour that he was sleeping with Captain America. He wasn’t, thank you very much. He could appreciate the view, but Steve was far too sweet for him._

_He didn’t know who was more shocked when he looked up and saw Loki standing behind the counter. Loki looked like a deer caught in headlights, and Tony automatically reached for his cell phone. He was halfway to calling the Avengers when Loki’s very panicked, very desperate ‘NO!’ made him pause. It was the following ‘Please’ that made him abandon the idea altogether._

_Where was the smirk? The cocked eyebrow? The drawled and superior ‘Stark’? The throwing him out of windows?)_

“No, I don’t,” It wasn’t even a lie, because at that very moment Tony had no idea where Loki was (Loki had told him once that the best lies were the ones that had a fair degree of truth in them). He could be standing in any one of the rooms in Tony's Monaco villa, after all, “and even if I did, there’s no way in hell I’d tell you.”

Thor’s face went from joyful to thunderous instantly, and Tony could see that the god wanted to force the answer out of him. If he was anyone else, Tony might have been worried. Having information that the god wanted and was willing to use violence to get, should have been terrifying. But he was Tony goddamn Stark, who had survived kidnapping, torture, and slowly being poisoned to death by the thing that was keeping him alive. Thor couldn’t scare him, not when it came to this. Not now, not knowing what he knew.

_(Loki didn’t react in any of the ways he should have. Tony’s ‘What the hell?’ was answered with a very garbled and half cocked explanation that his sentence had been filled and he no longer wished to stay on Asgard. He only wanted peace. Tony was about to demand a better explanation than that – on more than one occasion Tony had been witness to why exactly they called him Loki Silvertongue, and that excuse was below par-, but a voice from further in the shop stopped him._

_“Lucas?”_

_Loki looked utterly panicked, and, in one of his fairly rare moments of insight, Tony realized that this wasn’t the time, so he tipped his head to the god and walked out of the store. He wouldn’t let it lie. There was no way in hell he was just going to walk away from this. It wasn’t even Loki’s presence that bothered him the most. It was the desperation and panic that Loki had shown. Loki had never shown either, even when they had finally caught him and shipped him back to Asgard. Loki had been his usual condescending (which was a skill given that he was muzzled at the time), superior, and cocky self._

_Loki was a son of a bitch who caused trouble on a massive scale and who had (and almost succeeded) tried to kill him multiple times. But damnit, the guy was smart. He made them think, and while Tony did appreciate the smash things until they broke approach to being a superhero, he preferred it when the need to use his brain came up. He was a genius, and he loved excuses to show that fact off. Outthinking a god that went down in history for his intelligence? That was a hell of a high. Loki met him barb for barb, using words as dangerously as he did magic and weapons. Tony appreciated all that, and damnit, he couldn't help but like the bastard. So there was no way in hell he wasn't going to find out what had changed him.)_

"Wait? What?" It was Steve who was the first of the others to break into the conversation, "Loki? Loki is back on Earth?" He looked to Thor for an answer.

"I did not know this, but it is joyous news! We hadn't known what realm Loki had taken himself to."

"Why the fuck is he not on Asgard?" Clint demanded, sounding furious. Tony didn't blame the man- being brainwashed wasn't an offence you just got over. 

"I thought he was being taken to Asgard to face punishment? That was the deal we made when we agreed to let you take him back!" Fury demanded. 

A year ago, Tony would have been just as outraged. Loki had tried to take over Earth more than once (admittedly, that phase had ended after the first year. After that he just wanted to fuck with them) and had taken too much pleasure in making their lives hell. A few years on Asgard in no way made up for that. 

Tony knew better now.

_(If anyone asked, he was not stalking the God of Mischief. He was merely doing surveillance when he followed Loki for nearly a month. He was looking for any sign that Loki was up to no good. After the first week, where all Loki did was go to work, the library, Starbucks, and home, it was obvious that there was no large scale plan in the works. He nearly fell out of his chair when he realized that one sort of change was the once a week Loki walked into an nice building which Tony found out belonged to a therapist, but that strangeness aside, it was downright boring. In the entire month, the only change in that schedule was when the little old lady who ran the bookstore dragged him to see a movie with her. Hell, the only time Tony saw the god use magic was when Loki dried himself off after walking to work in a thunder storm (and damn if Loki didn't look over his shoulder nervously hours afterwards). Tony also spent the month hacking into various databases, and wasn't surprised to find that Loki, under the name Lucas Smith, had all his papers in order, including a birth certificate, degree from Oxford, green card, SIN card, and Norwegian passport._

_After a month of nothing, Tony decided, with his customary forethought, that it was a great idea to walk up to Loki's front door and knock on it.)_

"My friends! Loki was sentenced for his crimes, but he fulfilled those terms," Thor looked mournful, "it was our deepest regret that Loki did not stay with us afterwards." 

"Big fucking surprise," but everyone ignored Tony and instead bombarded Thor with more questions. 

"How long has he been released?"

"What do you mean his sentence was served!"

"Why can't you see him? I thought you had an all seeing guardian!" 

Thor looked bewildered by all their questions, and Tony couldn't help but be sickenly curious about how Thor was going to answer them. 

_(Loki opened the door, took one look at who was standing there, and slammed it shut again. At least he tried to, but Tony stopped it with his foot and forced his way inside. Loki stood there, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides with a glare on his face._

_"What do you think you are doing?" It was said through clenched teeth, and the absolute fury that was rolling off the god was intense._

_It was then that Tony remembered why this was a bad idea._

_Even if Loki didn't use his magic to kill/maim/turn him into something unnatural, he was still stronger than a human, was trained how to fight by Space Vikings, and was wicked with knives. Even in his suit (which he didn't have), Loki could kill him in a million different and painful ways. Tony knew these things, and he also knew that the key to getting out of these kinds of situations was to show no fear. Loki wasn't the only one able to hide his emotions under a cool, confidante facade._

_"Well, I just figured we could have a little chat.")_

"Loki has been gone for two years now," mournful Thor again, "and it pains me, but from the moment he left, he cloaked himself with magic so not even Heimdall or my father's ravens could find him. We have tried, for all this time, because we all want him to come home."

Tony cringed at that, knowing more than ever that there was no way in hell anyone on Asgard could ever be allowed to find Loki. If they couldn't convince him (Tony knew that would never happen), he wouldn't put it past them to take him by force. He had fulfilled his end of the bargain, but that didn't mean Thor was going to keep his end. None of them cared what Loki felt and all of them thought they knew what was best for him.

(Loki still had nightmares about it. There are some nights he woke up screaming. It's wasn't as bad as it once was, but it was still far from manageable.)

"Wait a minute! You haven't seen Loki in two years and you never thought to mention it to us?" Steve sounded incredulous, and Tony didn't blame him. That was one hell of an omission to keep from the people who defended the realm Loki's crazy affected the most. 

"None of us ever believed he would return to Earth!" Thor defended himself indignantly, "This is the realm where he could never curry favour, so why would he return here? We had assumed that he had gone to the Elves, for he has friends amongst them. There was no reason to tell you about my brother, for it was no longer your concern." 

Brother. How could Thor even use that word?

_(The rage died off quickly, replaced by the panic that Tony had seen in the shop. Loki's gaze flew behind him, focusing on the still open door, eyes still searching for something. The rest of the team, Tony guessed. It was refreshing, having someone assume he wasn't stupid enough to walk into a supervillain's lair without any sort of backup._

_"Just you and me," Tony didn't know why he felt the need to reassure him, but he did._

_The outright panic was replaced by suspicion. There was also relief there. Tony wondered when Loki had lost the ability to keep his emotions under wraps...and what the hell could cause him to lose it in the first place._

_Loki said nothing else, and hadn't killed him yet, so Tony took the chance to walk further into the apartment and look around. It was, quite frankly, a let down. Loki's 'lairs' had always been elegant, expensive penthouses. This was a shabby, barely furnished apartment (sure, he had already known it was in a not-so-great part of town, but Tony had figured the interior would be magiced up to comply with Loki's standards). On that note, neither was Loki. Tony had only ever seen Loki in the green/gold armour ensemble, complete with the horned helmet (which had allowed Tony to make many, many handlebar quips) or perfectly tailored, damn fine suits. Now all Loki wore were a loose pair of kaki pants and a black t-shirt. There wasn't even any green. Hell, even his hair was ruffled with half formed curls instead of slicked back with way too much product._

_Yep. There was something definitely wrong with Loki.)_

In amongst Thor's explanation, someone was bound to remember how this conversation had started in the first place. It was Natasha who noticed it first (big surprise there), turning to look at Tony with narrowed eyes. "You knew he was here."

"Yep," there was no point in denying the obvious.

Fury looked like he was actually going to kill him this time, "Want to explain this one Stark?" 

Tony really, really didn't want to, "Ran into him awhile ago," he was going to have to tell them the whole truth, but the timing had to be right.

The vein in Fury's forehead was visibly throbbing, and it was a pretty terrifying sight. "You ran into the man who tried to take over the world," Fury spoke deliberately, repressed rage really to explode, "and you just never thought to mention that."

Fury was going to kill him. If he didn't, then it would be Clint or Natasha, based on the looks on their faces. He probably wasn't going to get out of this alive...but screw it, if he could take Thor down, then it was worth it. 

"Didn't think it was important," Tony shrugged as casually as he could.

_(Loki had offered the same explanation as he had a month before, though with a less desperate air. He gave no details, despite Tony's probing. Loki didn't kill him, and didn't even tell him to get out, no matter how annoying Tony became. Tony wasn't an idiot, and knew Loki was only doing it in order to make sure he didn't call in the rest of The Avengers. It wasn't until Thor's name was mentioned that Loki let that desperation show again. Not only did he look desperate, but absolutely terrified. So whatever had made Loki like this, it had to do with Thor.)_

"Not important!" It was Steve this time, and he looked about ready to throw up his hands, "Are you serious?" 

Out of all of them, it was Steve who would be on his side, once it all came out. It was Steve who would have done the same thing, if he knew what Tony knew. It was Steve who was going to get him (and Loki, now that they knew he was here) out of this.

"Well, maybe it was important," Tony admitted, still pulling off the devil may care act, "but turns out there were a few more important things to deal with."

"What?" Bruce was the calm one, the only one who was (at least attempting to) give him the benefit of the doubt. 

"Honestly? The truth."

_(Tony kept going back -to the apartment, to Loki's work when his boss was out, and even the Starbucks-, unwilling to leave before getting answers. At one point, when he decided that Loki must have broken out of Asgardian jail and was hiding out on Earth, Tony considered just asking Thor. The terrified look on Loki's face when he mentioned Thor's name, however, made him pause. Loki's plea of 'not him. Tell the others if you must...but not him...just not him' made him discard the idea altogether._

_In all his 'dropping by' after that, Tony didn't mention Thor again. He stayed far away from anything Asgard related. Instead, he talked about inane subjects that Loki couldn't care less about. It was all designed to make Loki so irritated he'd snap (hopefully not in a Kill-Tony-Stark like manner). If you irritated Loki enough, he tended to say things he normally wouldn't. Tony's personal favourite was 'I do what I want Thor!' when Thor had gone into (an admittedly annoying)impassioned speech about how Loki was doing wrong but could still change his ways._

_Tony figured he was very good at pissing other people off, so why not Loki too? If anyone could do it, it was Tony Stark. So he poked and he prodded and was an annoying bastard. He finally managed to push Loki with a comment about being able to understand Loki's pain. The thing was, Tony honestly thought he did. He knew Loki's problems, for the most part, came from severe daddy issues. Tony could relate to that, he really could. He also understood the whole completely obliterate Jotunheim plan- the best weapon was the one you only had to fire once._

_Tony expected the furious, snarled reply, but he didn't expect the words Loki said. "Oh? You've been raped?"_

_Tony didn't know who was more surprised when he said it, him or Loki. Loki's eyes went wide, and he instantly wanted to call back the words. Tony's mouth was hanging open, unable to believe what Loki had said._

_"Oh," was the only thing Tony could thing to say. They stared at each other for a long, awkward moment, before Tony mumbled something and fled.)_

And yeah, and Tony's relationship with the truth was a flimsy at best, and with Loki is was practically non-existent, but it mattered here. It wasn't even for revenge, or even justice, but because Loki deserved to have his opinion actually heard for once. Asgard had ripped his agency away and made him nothing but a body to be used in whatever way another person wanted. Loki's hate and disgust at it all had to be laid out, plain and simple, for those monsters. The god didn't dare do it himself, not when he knew the price of defiance. Tony didn't give a fuck, so he was more than willing to be Loki's (fully approved) stand in for this.

"Are you seriously using the word truth and Loki in the same sentence?" Clint asked in disgusted disbelief. 

"Are you under a spell?" Coulson was the one who brought up that possibility. Tony was prepared.

"Nope. Run one of those nifty magic detectors Asgard," it made him sick just to say the word, "sent us. I'm spell free."

"Then why the fuck are you hiding Loki!" Clint was ready to kill him. 

Tony felt bad for him, he did, because what Loki had done to him was awful and fucked up. Evil even. But what had been done to Loki, and who had done it to him, that was worse. 

_(Tony thought he was the biggest God damn bastard in the universe. He had pushed a freaking rape victim into blurting out what had been done to him. Who the fuck does that to a person? The fact he had no idea didn't really matter, not when this was something Loki had no intention of telling anyone, let alone Tony Stark. He stayed far away from Loki, because he knew the other man must hate him on a more visceral level than before. He also knew that Loki wouldn't want to see him- the god's pride would be hurt, at the very least, now that Tony knew his secret. Tony completely believed that until a drunken god of mischief showed up at his door, ranting. At first Tony was sure that Loki was there to finally kill him. When he didn't, and he actually listened to what Loki was saying, Tony realized that he had fucked up again._

_"I'm not worthy for you to annoy now? I'm something less, something shameful?"_

_"Whoa now!" Tony interrupted, because he did not want Loki to think he thought any less of him for being a rape victim, "I never said that!" Tony couldn't even believe Loki would even think that. He was an ass, but Tony was never going to look at anyone and think, let alone, say 'hey, you were raped, so I'm going to break off all contact with you because you're pathetic'. Which, apparently, Loki had taken his silence as, "I was being nice for once! I figured I was the last person you ever wanted to see again!"_

_Loki stopped ranting at him, his mind trying to figure out if he was being sincere or not. There were a lot of ways that Tony could have handled that situation. Instead of doing anything sane, he stood aside and offered Loki a drink.)_

"Because I, for one, am against cruel and unusual punishment," was Tony's reply, and it was far less calm, "I know I might be in the wrong company with it," he threw a glare at Fury, not because he thought SHIELD would ever go as far as Asgard did, but because he knew Fury would barely hesitate before using some 'advanced' techniques to get the information they wanted, "but I'm very against torture. Being tortured tends to make a person very anti-torture."

He still had nightmares of that cave in Afghanistan. He woke up in the dark and panicked, waiting for the pain. When it didn't come, Tony still shook for the rest of the night. He would spend the next few nights with the light on, because he couldn't stand the dark. Even without the rest of it, Tony would have been pissed that they used torture on Loki, even if he hated the guy (it scared him a little, finding out Loki's truth and realizing how much worse it could have been in that cave. He thanked every god worth thanking that it hadn't happened to him, and then felt guilty and sick for even thinking it). 

"Torture?" and there was Mr. Pillar of Righteousness himself looking alarmed.

"Apparently Asgard is shit when it comes to prisoner rights."

_(So began their bromance. Tony started up his visits again, and Loki acted less annoyed at his presence than before. Whenever he did get a tad snippy, Tony reminded him he had begged him to come back. Loki would reply that no begging had been involved, and the drunken rant had in no way been an invitation._

_Loki's boss, when she caught Tony at the bookstore, said it was so nice that dear Lucas was finally making friends. Tony had laughed at Loki's mortified face. Tony told Pepper, of course, because trying to hide things from her was hard and usually ended badly. She yelled at him for being careless, and once she got that out, told him to be careful. If anything happened, she was calling the Avengers. That last threat would have terrified Loki, if not for the fact Pepper won his complete respect the moment she knocked on his front door, bold as brass, looked the former supervillain in the eyes, and told him that she didn't care what they were doing, but Tony needed to sign these papers now or she was dragging him out by his ear to a board meeting. Tony had to tell Happy soon after, when his driver started to question why he kept dropping him off in some non-descript part of town. Rhodey came after that, because it occurred to Tony that becoming besties with former supervillains might be treason and he might need someone to bust him out of prison (Rhodey hadn't said yes, but didn't say no either, so Tony had hope). Loki had no one else to tell._

_They got under whelming and overpriced coffee so much that baristas at Starbucks knew their orders off by heart. Loki introduced him to this amazing sandwich place around the corner, and Tony got the best type of every food imaginable delivered to Loki's place. They even watched movies, which led to them critiquing everything they saw related to either magic (for Loki) or science (for Tony). They got together whenever Tony came to Malibu...and he came a lot more often than he had before. On nights Loki didn't work the next day and Tony had no business, be it Stark Industries or Avengers related, they tended to get far too drunk, usually at Loki's apartment, but sometimes at Tony's place. Tony had been right in assuming it would take a hell of a lot to get a giant drunk, runt or not (he didn't mind funding the bill- drunk Loki could be hilarious)._

_They never talked about Loki's confession again. After deciding he was going to go back to annoying Loki, he had JARVIS download every bit of information on 'how to help your loved one cope with their assault' he could find on literally every victim's resource website he could find. He studied that more than he ever studied for any exam. He still thanked God he didn't need to employ the research, since Loki apparently had no intention of bringing it up. Tony never asked about it, but he wondered. He wondered about how it happened, because he couldn't imagine anyone being able to get away with it. Loki was a BAMF, period. With his magic he was downright unstoppable. It was why it had taken ten years, the combined forces of the Avengers, and the most powerful counter spell Strange and CO could make, to actually capture him. Even without his magic, Loki was a force to be reckoned with. Despite what Thor thought, Loki was damn good at fighting. He didn't have the brute strength of his bother, but he knew how to put that training to good use. So who the hell had been able to overpower Loki?_

_He wondered what happened to that person, because he couldn't see Loki letting them live. Even if he did, there was no way in hell Thor would let the person who violated his brother live. He wondered why the trauma had driven him to Earth, of all places. He wondered why it had silenced that silver and sharp tongue of his, or why it made those magical hands stumble. Loki may have verbally sparred with him, but it wasn't like before. Loki's words, even while inebriated, were measured. He was careful -so very, very careful- not to say anything that could so much as hint at alarm bells going off in Tony's head. He was careful when he used his magic, and only did so for small things. When he did, he was nervous for hours afterwards. He caused no mischief, not even small, harmless amounts. If Tony so much as mentioned Avengers stuff, Loki looked sick. If Tony touched him, no matter how casually, he flinched. When Tony made sure to stop touching because he wasn't a dick, Loki looked a little sad at the lack of it, now that it was gone. One time, when Loki had fallen asleep on Tony's couch, he woke up to find Loki in the middle of a nightmare. He shook him awake, only for Loki to fall into a full blown panic attack._

_Tony wondered, but he never asked.)_

"Torture!" Thor was angry at the accusation, if the thunder in the distance was any indication, "You dare accuse Asgard of such a thing!"

"Are you telling me you ran into Loki, he told you some sob story, and you actually believed him?" Tony was actually sure Barton was going to kill him before Thor could, which that would be a plot twist, "The fuck Stark!"

Fair point, but Tony wasn't an idiot. If Loki had been lying, Tony would have figured it out by then. Not even the Liesmith himself could fake those kinds of night terrors. Tony was too well aquatinted with what PTSD looked like for someone to fake it around him. 

"Can we all please calm down," Bruce wasn't looking so hot, relaxation wise, and Tony wished he'd waited to do this at a time his Science Bro wasn't there. 

Why hadn't he followed the original plan of seek Steve out privately to make a game plan about how to get Thor off Earth? Oh, because he'd seen Thor's grinning face, and all he could remember was Loki crying the night before as they tried to figure out how to do this. He remembered that that very punch-able face was the reason for Loki's nightmares, and well, Tony Stark wasn't known for his good decision making. 

_(It wasn't until Tony showed up at the bookstore while Loki was on break and Mrs. Gallant asked what he and Lucas had planned for the night, did he realize that people thought they were dating. He thought about it, from the disapproving looks from the local librarian and the giggles from the girls at Starbucks, and it made sense. He asked Pepper about it later, and she sent him a look so deadpan he was honestly surprised he survived it. She then proceeded to say God grant Loki patience, before taking a conference call. It was an intriguing, potentially very pleasing thought. Tony liked pretty people, male or female, and Loki certainly fit the bill. The moment Tony had seen him, he knew he'd love to get the god into bed. Honestly, the only thing that stopped any seduction attempts over Loki's years of villainy was the fact that Tony had no desire to be introduced to either Mjolnir or Loki's pointy knives. That wasn't something that had changed, because Loki was still hot as hell._

_The idea of dating him, however, that was a new thought. His dating exploits were never successful endeavours. The closest he had come to a fully fictional relationship had been with Pepper. Tony loved Pepper more than any other person in this world, and always would, but they had both come to the mutual conclusion they worked better as best friends/business partners. When Pepper met the man she was currently engaged to, he was legitimately overjoyed for her. He was a good guy, and he made Pepper happy. Really, Tony Stark didn't date, but when he thought about Loki, he came to the conclusion that he kind of wanted to. He just had no idea how to go about doing that. His usual seduction techniques came across as awful, all things considered. He already flirted with Loki, but that was just part of his nature. Loki, who constantly remarked Tony Stark would hit on anything that was upright and breathing, would never even realize if Tony's flirting took a turn for the more serious. So what to do?_

_Like many of Tony's fabulous ideas, it came to him while tipsy. He and Loki were debating whether magic or technology was better(and damnit, Loki was winning), when Tony blurted out, "Can I kiss you?"_

_Loki blinked at him stupidly, as though he was trying to process Tony's words. When he did, his mouth fell open in blatant shock. Tony waited for his response, a little too drunk to be properly nervous. It was probably due to the fact that Loki was equally a little too drunk that his reply was, "Yes...I suppose."_

_So Tony did. It was a nice kiss, and the small and still rational part of Tony's brain kept him from trying for anything more. When he pulled away, Loki looked even more surprised than before. Tony enjoyed watching the blush creep up his neck and spread across his cheeks. It was fucking endearing. Before things could get awkward, Tony continued with their argument as though nothing had happened. Loki stayed flustered, and it meant Tony ended up winning._

_There were more tipsy to downright drunk kisses, all of them fairly soft and chaste. They never went further than that, and Tony was very proud of his self restraint. Loki never started them, but he was always willing to grant permission when Tony asked. The first time he kissed Loki 100% stone cold sober was months later. He had been out of Malibu for a few weeks, busy with Avengers and SI business. Calling Loki wasn't nearly as interesting as being with Loki in person, so the minute he had free time he flew back. When Tony arrived at the bookstore to pick Loki up for what was technically their first 'official' date, the god looked absolutely miserable. There were bags under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in days. He was once again being haunted by the ghosts Tony couldn't see._

_When he saw him there, Tony did the first thing he could think of. He leaned across the counter and kissed him. Loki froze, and for a moment, he seemed like he was going to push him away, but then he all but melted into the kiss. There was more fire there then all their previous kisses combined, and desire as well, on both their parts. They only broke apart when Mrs. Gallant cleared her throat.)_

"I'll admit I'm not an expert on the Geneva Convention, but I'm pretty sure forced marriage is a big no-no. I think it goes without saying that rape is." 

There was a shocked silence there, and even an increasingly enraged looking Thor stood there soundlessly. Tony had them all now, and it was time for him to let the truth bomb hit, "I'm pretty sure all of us here, Asgardians excluded apparently," he glared at Thor, and hated him like he had never hated anyone before -not Ten Rings, not Obie- and it burned, "that forced marriage and rape are fucking bad."

"Stark, just explain for fuck's sakes!" Fury snapped.

Before he could, Thor was yelling, "Man of Iron, you will cease this slander and tell me where my brother is!"

"Don't call him that!" and Tony screamed that, because how dare he? It was wrong on so many fucking levels, "You don't get to call him that! Just say what he was! When he left, he wasn't your brother! What did you call him? Oh yeah, concubine!"

_(By the time a year passed, they had gone beyond simple kisses and into steamy make-out sessions, but it stopped there. It was killing Tony, and going that long without sex was driving him insane, but he wouldn't push it. He wanted to, because most days all he wanted to do was throw Loki down on the closest available surface and ravish him, but he didn't. He didn't want to traumatize Loki anymore. The prospect of hurting Loki was terrifying, just below that was the frightening possibility of losing him._

_He wasn't in love with Loki, but Tony was sure he was heading that way. The most shocking thing was that he was okay with that. He was pretty sure Loki was too. So yeah, he would wait. He consoled himself with the fact that, when it happened, it was going to be freaking fantastic._

_Through it all, Tony continued to wonder. He finally found out one night. The tradition of drinking on the first night Tony was back in town continued (Tony often considered the fact he might be turning Loki into an alcoholic), and it was another drunken confession that would never happened otherwise. It started with Tony's vulgar story about an actress in the movie they had just watched. Loki just rolled his eyes, commenting that it was a miracle that Tony hadn't died of an STI. Tony retorted with something to do with shapeshifting and octocolts. Tony waited for the reply, but none came. Confused, Tony looked over and was horrified to see Loki crying._

_"Wha...what?" He stuttered, not sure what he had done, or what to do now._

_Then, amidst tears and sobbing, Loki told him everything. With mounting horror, Tony learned about Asgard's idea of acceptable punishment, and how it wasn't even punishment at all, but an honour. He learned that Thor's version of brotherly love was far fucking removed from everyone else's. He learned that Loki had a son that looked like Thor but had his eyes, and that he didn't even know his child's name. Tony wanted to be sick. He wanted to march to Asgard and demand what the fuck was wrong with them. He wanted to kill something. This...this was wrong. So very wrong._

_Tony wasn't good at comforting people, and tears usually made him run in the other direction. Instead, he grabbed hold of Loki and pulled him into a hug.)_

There was more yelling, demands, and questions. They could all barely be heard over each other. Then Natasha's voice -calm, severe- cut through them all. "Thor. Explain Loki's punishment. Now."

Thor started from Loki's trial and kept going from there. His voice turned not quite jovial, but certainly nostalgic, and there were times when it was almost wistful. He spoke as a person who had nothing to hide, as though turning your adopted brother into a sex slave was par for the course. Hearing it from Thor's perspective, how divorced it was from the reality Loki had given him the week before, not only made his stomach turn, but absolutely stunned him. 

Thor talked about a Loki who never objected to his advances and was always willing to go to bed with him _(Loki was no fool. He knew to reject was to forfeit his life, and despite it all, he was not going to give Asgard the satisfaction of killing him)_ . He talked about Loki being accepted back into the royal family was welcomed he was by all of Asgard _(concubines are not part of any family. They were a temporary fling until their owner got married. Then they're thrown into the shadows, an open dirty secret. They did their job, and were kept hidden away. Their children were only heirs until their master had legitimate ones. Then they were nothing but bastards. They were only free when their master died, and then they were thrown out to the mercy of the streets. The royal family might have fooled themselves into thinking Loki was family again, but the rest of Asgard treated him accordingly. Not in front of the royals, but Loki was treated liked the whore his position made him)_ ). He talked about how happy they all were _(broken. Loki was broken)_. He admitted there were issues at first _(Issues? Loki literally couldn't enjoy it. He was Jotun, and their biology was different. His body wasn't mature. He was incapable of enjoying -even wanting- sex. He was incapable of getting pregnant, so his punishment dragged on and on. It didn't matter if none of them knew that. The longer it went on, Thor or his fucking all seeing parents should have looked it up)_ , but how Loki eventually embraced his position _(his body absolutely betrayed him. He hit maturity and couldn't stop his body from wanting it. They called it something else on Jotunheim, but on Earth they referred to it as going into heat. No matter how much his mind screamed at him to please stop, his body begged to do whatever Thor wanted to do. It was worse when he begged to do whatever Thor wanted him to. It lasted weeks, and Loki hated himself even more. Thor was unsure why Loki stopped wanting him again, but it didn't stop him from going back again and again)_ . They all rejoiced when his heat finally let him get pregnant _(Loki did as well, but not for the same reasons. It was almost over. It was not only sons who could inherit the throne, but daughters as well, so no matter the sex, he was free)_ . The child was born and Loki left without even seeing his son _(A lie. Loki had seen him twice. Once the moment he was born and the second only moments before he left. He had stared at the sleeping baby before giving it the best gift he could. Loki left before his innocent son knew what it was to have a parent that hated them. It wasn't the child's fault and there was love in his heart, but it would never be enough)_.Thor searched for him, determined to bring Loki back to their family, but he could not find him. Loki's duties _(punishment) )_ were over, and so was the magic that tethered him to Thor. Thor almost finished there, but ended with a happy comment that now he could bring Loki home and they could raise their son together and be a family again.

Steve looked as horrified as Tony felt. Steve, the most moral of them all, who had only let Thor take custody of Loki after being assured his punishment wouldn't be harsher than the one he'd serve on Earth ("Of course my friend! There will be some sentence for his crimes, but it will not be a terror. All was forgiven the moment my brother fell.), looked like he was going to be sick. Bruce had a green tint to his skin, and it must have taken all his self- control not to Hulk out. Natasha looked murderous, and Fury of all people shared her look. Clint was looking at the Thunderer like he had never seen him before, and there was a calculating look on Coulson's face, which meant he was probably devising well thought out ways to kill Thor, hide the body, and stop Asgard from ever figuring it out. Thor continued to look confused and hurt, and Tony couldn't stand the idea of being in the same room as him anymore. Before he could give any parting words, the others reacted. Bruce stormed out of the room, struggling to control his breathing. Tony foresaw an afternoon in the Hulk cage for his Science Bro.

Natasha looked at Thor and there was a promise of death in her eyes, "Are you telling me you used your brother as a sex slave." Her voice was cold rage. Tony had never been able to access the Widow's files, but he wouldn't be surprised if breaking up a human trafficking ring was in there somewhere. 

"What the fuck Thor!" Clint yelled, "I hate the guy, but that's sick as fuck!"

"Loki was no slave!" Thor protested, "He was honoured and loved!"

Yeah, Tony needed to leave. He was going to try and hit Thor again. His point had been to expose Thor -Asgard- as the monster he really was. He needed to do that to get Asgard far off Earth, to protect Loki. Once Thor was gone, Loki wouldn't have Asgard hanging over his head like a sword. He would have one less thing to haunt him in the dark of night. Maybe he could even start to heal. 

"I quit," Tony told them, looking to Fury, "and I'm taking all SI tech I've loaned SHIELD with me. As long as that bastard is on the team, I want nothing to do with any of you," he glared at Thor spitefully, "I don't work with rapists."

He expected Fury to protest, at least about the tech part, but he didn't. The director just gave a tight lipped nod, "Understood Stark." 

Thor wasn't going to let it go, "You will tell me-" he reached out to grab Tony to force an answer out of him, but was stopped when Steve stepped in between them.

"Tony won't do anything," Captain America looked the angry god in the eye, unflinching, "except leave."

He was still looking at Thor, and Tony realized he still didn't understand. Despite their reactions, despite them laying out exactly what he had done, Thor still didn't get that he had done anything wrong. It was almost pitiful, how absolutely blind he was.

"How the fuck did you think he'd stay with you," and an idea suddenly hit Tony, and he took a gamble, despite the risk, "and the brat?"

Thor's eyes flashed, and his grip on Mjolnir tightened. The only thing that kept the god where he was, was the unmoving body of Steve Rogers between them.

(Loki didn't know his son's name, and Tony knew that fact hurt him.)

Instead of trying anything, Thor just grit his teeth and growled, "His name is Nari." 

Nari. Tony wondered what it meant or if it was important. He wondered if it would mean anything to Loki, when he heard it. Would it hurt him? 

"Tony, leave," Steve told him, and that was a really good idea. The Captain would only be able to hold Thor in check for so long.

"Just so everyone knows, Pepper has already filed paperwork to get Loki refugee status, and has permission to pay off whoever I need to make it happen ("How much Tony?" Pepper had asked him, not in protest, but to make sure. "Spare no expense," was his reply). If you try and find him, you won't (even if anyone managed to find the magically cloaked safe house, Rhodey was there in the War Machine suit, ready to blow people up. They all knew how risky this was, Loki most of all. But Loki had agreed that they had to do something. He knew he'd never be able to work past it if he had to hide in the shadows forever. Loki was tired of being scared). Don't even try."

He turned to finally go, when Thor's vaguely snarled voice said, "You love him."

"Yeah, I guess I do," and that was the moment Tony fully realized it.

"You are a mere mortal," Thor snarled, "Do you truly think he will stay with you?"

"Maybe not," Tony replied, not bothering to turn around or stop, "but I'm good with that. Unlike you, I'm letting Loki decide."

He left, and let Happy drive him to the airport. When Happy asked him if he was alright, he shrugged and said, "Well, I'm not dead." Despite that quip, his stomach still felt like it was going to reject anything in there. He was shaking, and he hadn't even realized that until now. He wasn't quite sure how he had survived that. How the fuck was he still alive?

Tony pulled out his phone and dialled the number of the person who this affected the most. 

Loki's voice was clipped and strained when he answered, "Well?"

"Well Thor's about to get kicked off Earth, if Fury's reaction is anything to go by. There's no one at SHIELD who's going to make you go with him. We all have morals. You're safe...r."

There was a long silence, and then a long, shaky breath, "Thank you Tony."

That tone made Tony's heart do a little flip flop. He thought about Thor's nasty parting remark. Tony was a genius, he had obviously thought about that. He knew that, relationship wise, they were really fucked. He also knew that he really didn't care. He'd never been one for long terms plans anyway. They'd figure it out eventually, good or bad.

"Welcome Babe," he replied, and he could practically hear Loki's eye roll, "That's my job. Rescuing damsels and all that." 

"Do call me damsel again Stark. I dare you."

Tony just grinned, filing that term away to use later. He sobered in the next moment, when he remembered something he had learned, "Hey Loki...I know his name."

There was a sharp intake of breath, "Oh..."

"Do you want to know?" He asked softly.

There was a pause that lasted too long, and when Loki spoke again, his voice betrayed his tears, "I...later."

"Got it," he replied, making a mental note to get JARVIS to order some booze, because that conversation was going to need a fuck ton of alcohol, "You know I love you, right?" there was only shocked silence on the other end, "You don't need to say it back or anything. I don't want to freak you out and if you want to run for the hills, I won't try and stop you." 

"I...don't want to run."

And that was more than Tony expected. Considering all Loki had been through the fact he didn't want to run was pretty damn important. 

"I'll see you soon," Tony finally said.

"I suppose I'll still be here," there was the snark again, trying to hide the emotions Tony dragged to the surface. Tony let it slide.

When he hung up the phone, he closed his eyes and leaned back against the leather seat. He had no fucking clue what happened now, or what to do next. He only knew that, whatever happened, it wasn't really up to him. It was finally time for Loki to take his choices back, and Tony? He was only there for the ride. It was probably the worst idea he'd ever had, but he was going full speed ahead on this one. Honestly, Tony was so down for whatever dating a recovering Norse god threw his way.


End file.
